Seeds of violent Dublin protests were sown before alleged assault was public knowledge 

Far-right mantra of protection never extends to Irish, writes Liz Dunphy

Protesters throw fireworks at gardai outside Citywest on Tuesday. Picture: Cillain Sherlock/PA

The anger that would erupt in violence on a tree-lined lane outside a refugee centre in a Dublin suburb on Tuesday evening began to foment from Monday morning.

From just after 8am on Monday, far-right influencers posted images of Garda crime scene tape at Citywest, the former hotel in Saggart, Co Dublin, which was bought by the State in September for €148.2m as a permanent international protection accommodation (IPAS) centre.

This was before the distressing news broke later that day that a 10-year-old girl in State care was allegedly sexually assaulted.

The suspect, a 26-year-old man, was a resident at Citywest who had been served a deportation order.

He had been quickly arrested and charged after the alleged offence.

However, hours before this was publicly known, the narrative was already being pushed online that people coming into this country and staying in Citywest were responsible for crime.

Although actual statistics have never supported the fabricated assertion that “foreigners” are responsible for a perceived spike in crime, the narrative can stick.

Yes, some terrible crimes are committed by people who come to this country. But the far-right mantra of “protecting women and children” never extends to the Irish charged with domestic and sexual abuse.

A number of Irish online accounts began pushing for violent protest from Monday morning.

“The far right use horrific incidents to further their own agenda, like Monday’s alleged sexual assault on a young girl, to foment hate towards people seeking asylum,” said Niamh McDonald, of the Hope and Courage Collective.

Hope and Courage Collective, an organisation which works to tackle rising far-right hate and disinformation, tracked online plans for the protest as they began to emerge from Monday.

Outside influence 

International far-right agitators were also involved in stoking anger online from early on Monday.

Some international activists announced to their followers that they were coming to Ireland after hearing of the alleged sexual assault on the girl near the Citywest Hotel.

Tommy Robinson, Britain’s most prominent far-right activist whose influence has surged since Elon Musk reinstated his X account and who can now mobilise tens of thousands of people, posted on X about the alleged sexual assault on Monday and Tuesday.

Musk, the world’s wealthiest man and owner of X, shared posts about the child’s alleged sexual assault on Monday, boosting one Irish far-right poster’s tweet to some 11.5m views.

Ezra Levant, a Canadian conservative online influencer and YouTuber, who founded the far-right Rebel News website, flew to Ireland from Canada for the protest.

Some posts blaming Ireland’s migration policies for the child’s alleged sexual assault quickly received more than 1.2m views on social media. Ms McDonald said:

Social media has amplified hateful content and, in many cases, clear incitement to violence was not removed in the lead-up to the violence and destruction outside Citywest.

“We can demonstrate a clear timeline of amplification and deepening extremism, facilitated by both social media’s recommender system and their failure to remove content that violates their terms of service.

“Online hate results in real-world harm, and it is essential that these systems are addressed in the upcoming Democracy Shield, of which EU commissioner for justice Michael McGrath is leading.”

A TikTok post on Monday, with some 500,000 views, called for people to attend “a huge protest” at 7pm on Tuesday outside Citywest.

On Monday evening, a small protest was held outside Citywest, with Irish anti-migrant activist Philip Dwyer and far-right councillor Gavin Pepper in attendance.

Mr Dwyer livestreamed from the protest, alleging that the hotel had been turned into a “a plantation centre” and a “state-sponsored people trafficking centre”. 

Protesters throw fireworks at Gardai officers near the Citywest Hotel on Wednesday. File picture: PA

Irish anti-migrant activist Paul Nolan, who has multiple previous convictions and who became the first person sentenced to jail for online posts which risked identifying asylum seekers in Ireland, posted on X footage from the violent protest with extremely racist language.

The Hope and Courage Collective noticed more online anti-migrant activists and parties posting about a rally or protest outside Citywest from Tuesday morning.

That evening, livestreaming of the riot began early.

A British influencer livestreamed from the violent protest alongside multiple Irish far-right and anti-migrant activists.

Between 7.20pm and 8.56pm, there were some 1,183,970 views across 22 pieces of content from the riot, the Hope and Courage Collective found. Far-right activists can earn money from such content, the group noted.

Fireworks, glass bottles, and bricks were launched at gardaí. 

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said that peaceful protests do not involve launching missiles at gardaí and burning vehicles.

This was violence with the intent to damage the Citywest building and intimidate those within.

Tuesday’s riots were followed by more violence outside Citywest on Wednesday night.

Although protesters gathered there again on Thursday night, the protest remained peaceful.

By yesterday, 33 people — including five juveniles — had been arrested in connection with the riots, and 26 people had been charged.

However, gardaí have been working to identify and charge more people in connection with the violence, which saw four gardaí hospitalised for injuries they sustained in
the riots. All gardaí have subsequently been discharged.

For the first time, gardaí released video footage from their new body-worn cameras in a public appeal to identify rioters.

Throughout the violence, hundreds of children who had fled war in Ukraine and elsewhere were trapped in the hotel.

Protesters face off against gardaí on Wednesday night. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Some families there have been too scared to send those children to school this week.

Far-right agitators who stoked this week’s violence are quick to use the horrific alleged attack on one child to further their own political ends.

But the danger and fear that plunges many other children into does not seem to matter.

Citywest Hotel provides accommodation for 1,200 Ukrainians, including 350 families with children.

Another section accommodates about 460 adults seeking asylum.

And about 800 people, including more than 300 children seeking asylum, are accommodated in an IPAS centre adjacent to the hotel.

Media regulator Coimisiún na Meán said it has asked the various social media platforms what “measures” were taken in relation to rioting in Citywest.

Yet again, social media companies left content that was clearly inciting violence to be viewed and shared on their platforms for far too long before any efforts were made to remove some of it.